Jorabat, Mar 17:  The Jorabat Lower Primary School, the only Assamese medium government school in the area, has become a glaring example of administrative apathy, as repeated promises from authorities have failed to reclaim its encroached land.

Despite numerous visits by successive circle officers of the Sonapur revenue circle over the years, the institution has been left to fend for itself, ultimately being forced to settle for a smaller land area than what was originally allotted.

The school, established in 1986 and provincialised in 1991, was initially granted two bighas of land. However, a government survey of Non-Cadastral (NC) villages conducted last year exposed a shocking reality: almost half of the school's land had been encroached upon, leaving it with only one bigha and one katha. While encroachment complaints have been raised time and again by the School Management Committee (SMC) and conscious citizens, the lack of action from the administration has emboldened encroachers to seize more space.

Locals allege that a perennial drain running alongside the school's entrance was deliberately pushed further into the school's boundary, allowing residents on the other side to extend their boundaries.

Taking advantage of the school's lack of a boundary wall, adjacent residents are also believed to have extended their homes onto the institution's land, gradually encroaching on its premises. What makes the situation even more outrageous is that, at one point, officials informed the SMC that the school's encroachment file had mysteriously gone missing from the Sonapur revenue circle office, an apparent move to derail any follow-up action.

Despite repeated pleas to authorities, including the education and the revenue departments, no concrete action has been taken to restore the school's rightful land. While officials have assured enquiries and hearings in the past, these promises have remained nothing more than empty words.

Faced with government inaction, the school authorities recently took matters into their own hands and constructed a boundary wall with government-allocated funds—not to reclaim lost land, but to prevent further encroachments. This, however, has sent out a disheartening message: that instead of ensuring justice, the government has allowed the encroachers to win, forcing the school to operate on reduced land.

Currently, the school struggles with severe infrastructural challenges, including a dilapidated entrance bridge, inadequate drinking water facilities, and severe classroom shortages, with all five grades being taught in just two hall rooms.

The inaction of the government in this matter is an embarrassment to the very ideals of governance and justice, say locals.

The people of Jorabat have demanded immediate action—legal measures against encroachers, a proper demarcation of the school's land, and its complete restoration. The question remains: Will the administration finally rise to the occasion, or will it continue to let vested interests triumph over the rights of schoolchildren?

Parmeshwar Puri